India - Dust Storm Death Toll Hits 127, Worse Weather On Way (Video)

A series of severe dust and thunderstorms have been ravaging parts of India since Wednesday killing at least 127 people in the last 24 hours. The storms have left a path of death and destruction in their wake with homes flattened, trees uprooted and electricity poles down everywhere.

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were hit the hardest with 112 lives taken in those regions where unusually strong winds and heavy rains raged for hours. Narendra Sharma, the SHO of Kheragarh police station in Agra district said, "Concrete houses came down like pack of cards one after the other. Trees, streetlights and whatever stood taller than a few feet were flattened by the winds. We took out victims from debris of houses and ferried them to hospitals on motorcycles."

The government announced a 400,000 rupees compensation to families of victims who lost their lives. An additional 200 people have been injured in the storms. Estimates put the number of damaged electricity poles at 12,700 and 1,523 transformers were damaged. 50,000 trees were also destroyed in the storm. chief minister Vasundhara Raje visited affected areas of Bharatpur Friday. Rajasthan minister Gulab Chand Kataria said, "Seventeen persons have died in Bharatpur, nine in Alwar and five in Dholpur district due to the dust storm." People were also killed in Kanpur Dehat, Saharanpur, Hamirpur, Mirzapur, Kanpur city, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Chitrakoot, Rae Bareli, Unnao, Mathura, Amroha, Banda, Sitapur, Sambhal, Etawah, Allahabad, and Rampur.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Saddened by the loss of lives due to dust storms in various parts of India. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. <br><br>Have asked officials to coordinate with the respective state governments and work towards assisting those who have been affected: PM</p>&mdash; PMO India (@PMOIndia) <a href="https://twitter.com/PMOIndia/status/991928132004278272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 3, 2018</a></blockquote>

A spokesperson for the Uttar Pradesh relief commissioner's office said it is the highest death toll from such a storm in 20 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he was saddened by the loss of so much life due to the dust storms. Hemant Gera, secretary for disaster management and relief in Rajasthan said, "We had a high-intensity dust storm on 11 April - 19 people died then - but this time it struck during the night so many people sleeping and couldn't get out of their houses when mud walls collapsed."